I remember in the late 60's/early 70's one of the biggest malls near me was an outdoor mall. Same basic design with no covered interior. Cold as hell in the winter with the wind whipping through!

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
I remember in the late 60's/early 70's one of the biggest malls near me was an outdoor mall. Same basic design with no covered interior. Cold as hell in the winter with the wind whipping through!

I don't think you were around here back then, but that describes the River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, IL.

The Southlake Mall used to be cool but it's on it's last legs.

South Park Mall in Moline , IL.
Can't be killed.
It's has been beating the odds for 25 years.
Oh it's 2/3 rds empty.

The Dailey exercise walkers love the emptiness.

Mortal ,non financial types can't figure out how anyone can afford to keep it open.

I wonder how the Mall of America is doing? Wasn't that the largest?

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Eddie DeBartolo invented the mall and made a fortune.It allowed his kid to buy the 49ers until he got into some trouble.

The DeBartolos have donated millions to one of the local hospitals here. They were some of the first filthy rich SOBs to discover our area and ruin it for everyone.

In Central florida there are two mall's south of Orlando. One is the Florida mall and the other is The Mall at Millenia.
The Florida mall is always busy and it is full of tourists from around the world.
The Mall at Millenia has mostly high end retailers including several major Swiss Watch brand boutiques and they are also always very busy.
I guess being in a tourist area has helped them stay busy all these years.

I like that guy's videos

We have these outlet malls here in Georgia.
They seem to be doing very well, especially that one near me.
They're open air malls, just strips of shops and you walk outside.

Alpharetta's Northpoint Mall seems to be still thriving. There's a mens store when I buy suits near there and it's always packed.


As a teen in the early to mid 80s, the mall was a social hangout and date night destination.

Now I avoid malls.

A kid I went to high school with's family made big bucks when they sold the family's driving range and mini golf to the developer of what became West Farms Mall on the West Hartford/Farmington CT line. Once it was built, I was a little too old to hang out there but definitely shopped there.

I left the area in 1982 and understand that the public buses coming out of Hartford have had the same effect as an earlier poster has mentioned - hoodrats' presence scaring away suburbanites as has happened all over the country.

quote:

The DeBartolos have donated millions to one of the local hospitals here. They were some of the first filthy rich SOBs to discover our area and ruin it for everyone.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Did not know that. Went to college with Eddie Jr. They did have a track record of philanthropy.

A weird cycle I am seeing.

They built an outdoor mall in Boston many years ago.

It was a wasteland.

Years later they went up another floor and covered it.

It became a very successful indoor mall.

Now it has some vacant stores.

Now they are building huge outdoor malls near me that appear to be successful.

Also one of the biggest indoor malls is building a new outdoor section.

This is in New England. We have cold winters and often lots of snow.

I am wondering if people no longer want to be indoors breathing other people's air.

Instead of weekly trips to the mall, I go a couple of times a year.

The rest is all online.
I get deliveries from online services several times a week.

I only thing I still shop in person for is groceries I alternate between Costco and Wegmans.

quote:

Originally posted by Ogie:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
I remember in the late 60's/early 70's one of the biggest malls near me was an outdoor mall. Same basic design with no covered interior. Cold as hell in the winter with the wind whipping through!

I don't think you were around here back then, but that describes the River Oaks Mall in Calumet City, IL.

The Southlake Mall used to be cool but it's on it's last legs.

Southlake Mall has become pretty dangerous. The only time I'd go out there was to the watch shop for battery changes or bracelet work.

The mall by me The Woodlands Mall stays pretty consistently busy, helps for the area its in. Same for The Galleria in W Houston.

Conversely, malls like Greenspoint, empty except for a gym, Sharpstown Mall & the one whose name I can't recall off 290/I610 are gone or practically finished.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
The mall by me The Woodlands Mall stays pretty consistently busy, helps for the area its in. Same for The Galleria in W Houston.

Conversely, malls like Greenspoint, empty except for a gym, Sharpstown Mall & the one whose name I can't recall off 290/I610 are gone or practically finished.

The key reason is that the Woodlands, the Galleria are affluent areas that can financially support the high overhead.

I shopped many times in Southdale mall. Shopping out of the cold temperatures of MN weather was great way to purchase things needed. Then the huge Mall Of America wow. The online shopping and delivery of Amazon, and the internet have shifted the paradigm of shopping. The Mall of America and other malls have been over run by gangs the once safety of the malls are no longer safe. The locals no longer call it the Mall of America, it is called The Mall of Africa.

Always hated the mall. It was mostly just a place for dumbasses to congregate to socialize. I was super pissed when the bulldozed Opryland in Nashville (a pretty decent amusement park) to put up a huge mall called Opry Mills. What a waste.

They are a waste of space and energy that just aren't needed anymore.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
<<snip>> I was super pissed when the bulldozed Opryland in Nashville (a pretty decent amusement park) to put up a huge mall called Opry Mills. <<snip>>

Same here! I live just 100 miles south so I normally made at least one trip each year to spend the day at Opryland, then drive home at closing. I sure miss that place!

Spent my high school and formative driving years in W. Monroe/Monroe, LA during the mid-70's to early 80's. I don't ever recall there being a mall for shopping/hanging out. I started working at age 16, so just "hanging out" was kind of a foreign concept to me. If I did get the opportunity to go "hang" somewhere with my friends, it was usually the McDonald's parking lot or at Johnny's Pizza House, which is where I worked until a junior in college.

The Pecanland Mall was built on the east side of Monroe (not sure when) and I believe it is BARELY hanging on. It was up and running when I did overnights in Monroe with my former airline...mall was pretty close to the hotel. Not sure of its current status. It's a place I wouldn't go to on purpose. Monroe, that is.

Since the advent of the internet (thanks Al Gore!!! ), my shopping location is on my ass at my desk in front of my computer. I can't STAND going to the mall...hate the crowds and people have ZERO respect for anyone but themselves. As someone else mentioned, malls seem to have become a bastion for crime and hoodlums.

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Originally posted by blueye:
I wonder how the Mall of America is doing? Wasn't that the largest?

I believe some people refer to it as "Mogadishu Mall" now.

That was very interesting, even if the guy’s green bow tie was distracting. I never really liked to go out shopping, but still have many memories of days in a mall with my wife and our kids; including that same Flagstaff Mall the guy mentioned at the beginning of the video.

One of my favorite memories was with my daughter when we were working on a ranch N of Wickenburg, Arizona. We were in Phoenix shopping and went to a mall there, probably Paradise Valley Mall, if that’s the one at I-17 and Bell Rd. Clare was only about 3 and had never seen an escalator before. She giggled and squealed with joy riding it like it was a carnival ride. I remember the other shoppers around us smiling at her.

Then she was HS age and we were at the mall in Grand Junction, Colorado. We’re all walking through the mall, Clare walking next to me. A young guy approaches us walking in the other direction. He had piercings all over, neck tattoos, black, torn jeans hanging in the middle of his butt, with chains hanging all over them, spiked hair or some shit like that.

“See that guy there?” I said to her as he passed by looking at her.

“Yeah,” she responded.

“If you ever come home with a guy that looks like that,” I said, “I’ll smother you at night with your pillow.”